Section 9

Reactions involving gases

Whenever gases are involved in a reaction you need to remember that they have both mass and
volume and that 1 mole of any gas has the same volume, 24 000 cm3, at room temperature
and 1 atmosphere pressure as 1 mole of any other gas. (See Section 4 for more details)
This means:
2 g of hydrogen, H2, has a volume of 24 000 cm3
32 g of oxygen, O2, has a volume of 24 000 cm3
81 g of hydrogen bromide, HBr, has a volume of 24 000 cm3
The effect of this is to make calculations involving gas volumes much easier than you might
expect.
Consider the following reaction:

2NO(g) + O2(g) → 2NO2(g)

This says:

2 moles of NO(g) react with 1 mole of O2(g) to give 2 moles of NO2(g)

∴ (2 x 24 000) cm3 of NO react with (1 x 24 000) cm3 of oxygen to give (2 x 24 000) cm3 of
NO2

2 cm3 of NO react with 1 cm3 of oxygen to give 2 cm3 of NO2

ie for gases only the reacting volume ratios are the same as the reacting mole ratios in the
equation.

Example 1
What volume of sulphur trioxide would be produced by the complete reaction of 100 cm3 of
sulphur dioxide with oxygen? What volume of oxygen would be needed to just react with the
sulphur dioxide?

2SO2(g) + O2(g) → 2SO3(g)

Ratios 2 1 2
ie 1 ½ 1
100 cm3 50 cm3 100 cm3

Thus 100 cm3 of sulphur dioxide will need 50 cm3 of oxygen and produce 100 cm3 of
sulphur dioxide.

UA008883 – Workbook for GCE students – Moles, Formulae and Equations 87

Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (9080)
Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (Nuffield) (9086) – Issue 3 – October 2004
Example 2

What would be the composition of the final product in Example 1 if 100 cm3 of oxygen had
been used rather than 50 cm3?
Since 100 cm3 of the sulphur dioxide needs only 50 cm3 of oxygen there must be 50 cm3 of
oxygen unused. Thus the final volume is:

100 cm3 of sulphur dioxide plus 50 cm3 of excess oxygen = 150 cm3

Example 3

What volume of ammonia would be produced if 10 cm3 of nitrogen was reacted with 20 cm3 of
hydrogen?

N2(g) + 3H2(g) → 2NH3(g)

You need to think before you start this question. The reacting volumes given in the question are
not the same as those in the reaction. You must have excess of one of the gases.

From the equation:

10 cm3 of nitrogen needs 30 cm3 of hydrogen. You only have 20 cm3 of hydrogen so the
nitrogen is in excess.

In this case you will need to use the hydrogen volume in the calculation.

N2(g) + 3H2(g) → 2NH3(g)

Ratios 1 3 2
1/3 1 2/3
1/3 x 20 20 2/3 x 20
3 3
6.67 cm 20 cm 13.33 cm3

Thus 20 cm3 of hydrogen will react to give 13.33 cm3 of ammonia and there will be 3.33 cm3 of
hydrogen left over.

88 UA008883 – Workbook for GCE students – Moles, Formulae and Equations

Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (9080)
Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (Nuffield) (9086) – Issue 3 – October 2004
Exercise 9

Calculations based on equations involving only gases

Section a

In Section a. assume that you have 10 cm3 of the first named reactant and then calculate the
volumes of all the gases involved in the equation. In these examples the reactions are being
carried out at above 100°C and you should assume the water is present as a gas and therefore
has a volume.

1 CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O

2 C2H4 + 3O2 → 2CO2 + 2H2O

3 2C2H2 + 5O2 → 4CO2 + 2H2O

4 2C8H18 + 25O2 → 16CO2 + 18H2O

5 N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3

UA008883 – Workbook for GCE students – Moles, Formulae and Equations 89

Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (9080)
Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (Nuffield) (9086) – Issue 3 – October 2004
90 UA008883 – Workbook for GCE students – Moles, Formulae and Equations
Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (9080)
Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (Nuffield) (9086) – Issue 3 – October 2004
Section b

In Section b. you are asked to find the total volume of gas produced at room temperature and
pressure. You should ignore the volume of water produced as this will have condensed as a
liquid. Be careful in some cases, as there is an excess of one of the reactants.

1 What volume of oxygen would be needed to convert 1000 cm3 of nitrogen monoxide, NO, to
nitrogen dioxide, NO2? (Assume all volumes are measured at the same temperature and
pressure.)

2 In the production of sulphuric acid sulphur dioxide is converted to sulphur trioxide by

reaction with the oxygen in the air. What volume of air (assume 20% of the air is oxygen)
would be needed to produce 150 cm3 of sulphur trioxide? Assume complete conversion of
sulphur dioxide to sulphur trioxide.

3 In equation for the oxidation of ammonia to nitrogen monoxide is:

4NH3 + 5O2 → 4NO + 6H2O

What volume of ammonia would be required to produce 2500 cm3 of nitrogen monoxide and
what volume of air would be used in the conversion? Again assume that air is 20% oxygen
by volume.

4 What volume of oxygen at room temperature and pressure would be needed to completely
burn 1 mole of butane?

5 What volume of hydrogen at room temperature and pressure would be needed to convert
1 mole of ethene, C2H4, to ethane, C2H6?

6 What is the final volume of gas produced at room temperature when 10 cm3 of methane is
burnt with 30 cm3 of oxygen?

7 What is the final volume of gas produced at room temperature if 5 cm3 of octane are burnt
with 100 cm3 of oxygen?

UA008883 – Workbook for GCE students – Moles, Formulae and Equations 91

Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (9080)
Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (Nuffield) (9086) – Issue 3 – October 2004
8 In a reaction between methane and oxygen 60 cm3 of methane was burnt with 60 cm3 of
oxygen. What is the composition of the gas mixture produced?

9 What volume of ammonia would be produced if 10 cm3 of nitrogen was reacted with 60 cm3
of hydrogen?

10 What would be the final volume of gas produced in the reaction between 10 cm3 of hydrogen
and 10 cm3 of oxygen?

92 UA008883 – Workbook for GCE students – Moles, Formulae and Equations

Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (9080)
Edexcel Advanced GCE in Chemistry (Nuffield) (9086) – Issue 3 – October 2004